


Deck The Halls

by ladyofdecember



Category: The Venture Bros
Genre: Christmas Decorations, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sappy, Venture Bros Secret Santa 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 02:38:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13067376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember
Summary: Billy and White's first christmas in New York, specifically Brooklyn, makes Billy feel things again. Holiday fun and christmasy stuff abound!





	Deck The Halls

**Author's Note:**

> Just know that I tried my best to write a happy-go-lucky, cheerful fic about the holidays and family because I figured White and Billy deserve to be happy, they get shit on all the time. And I always write angsty fics and I just wanted to do something light and happy. And still, somehow, I ended up mixing in family angst in here. This was supposed to be totally 100% fluff. I just want you to know how hard I tried!
> 
> Side note: I headcanon that Rose calls Billy “Billy-baby” no matter how many times he asks her to stop.
> 
> Side side note: It must be really jarring to go from ust one roommate living cramped into a tiny trailer to a big house full of family.

The Whalen household was bustling on this cold and dreary saturday morning. None of the occupants of the brownstone seemed aware of the dismal weather outside however or if they did at least they didn't seem to care.

Happy and joyous christmas jingles such as Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" floated throughout the house, the smell of fresh baked vanilla cookies wafted in the air.

Colonel Gentleman was currently occupied with decorating the enormous wooden mantle with brightly colored tinsel whilest Rodney was working on the gorgeously adorned christmas tree.

This was the scene Billy awoke to this morning, the bed he shared with White now empty and cold, the albino having woken probably several hours later. After quickly dressing and following the sound of christmas tunes down the stairs, he suddenly began to feel very surreal as a sense of deja vu washed over him.

It was almost like he were a boy again, rushing downstairs to where his mother was baking and carrying on with christmas glee.

As he reached the bottom, he spotted where White had carried off to. The taller man was currently setting up an elaborate gingerbread house.

"Heya fella, what do ya think?" He asked, standing back to admire the setup.

Billy's mouth felt dry as he took in the whole house's scene. Everyone gathered around, doing their part to make the place look cheerful and ready for the holiday season. It was also startling but nothing more so than his usually sardonic and pessimistic partner of twenty odd years.

"Did you... did you do all this?" He found himself asking.

"Well yeah! I thought it'd really tie the whole room together! You don't like it?" White asked in a mock hurt tone, hand placed against his chest in sarcastic astonishment.

Billy laughed, shrugging. "No, it's just... I didn't know you were into christmas. I always had to beg you to let me put lights up."

"That's because lights on a trailer were a a whole level of low I didn't want to acknowledge." 

Billy rolled his eyes as White went back to straightening the various figurines surrounding the house. It was then he noticed the brightly colored sweater the man was wearing.

"Wha- where did you get that sweater?"

"Oh!" White straightened up to his full height and tugged the red and white wool down with pride and a grin. "Your mom made it for me!"

"My... mother?"

Cue Rose's entrance into the living room, pretending verily she hadn't just been eavesdropping on the two. "Oh, Billy-baby, now don't be jealous of Peter's sweater! Now I knitted you one too but they were supposed to be for christmas morning and Peter here just couldn't wait!"

"I couldn't!" White shrugged, a huge smile across his face.

Billy stared at his friend and his mother, looking back and forth between the two in disbelief. “Um... okay.”

Rose hurried over towards the couch to fetch his overly large festive pullover and pushed it into his hands. “Here you go, Billy-baby! Put it on!”

Billy did as he was told, glaring at the barely hidden snickering coming from White next to him. “Thanks mom.” He smiled at her. “But don't you think it's a little big?” He lifted his arms to show the sleeves ending just past his fingertips.

“Oh nonsense now! You'll grow into it!”

The two men shared a look as she hurried back into the kitchen to continue her baking.

“This is too weird.” Billy murmured, so quietly at first White wasn't sure he heard him.

“What?” He asked, turning away from his project to face his friend again.

“This... whole thing. You know, I haven't had a christmas like this in a long time.”

“Well get used to it, young William!” Horace said from a few feet away where he was now also hanging ornaments. “I say the more the merrier during the holidays!”

Rodney laughed heartily and clapped his dear friend on the back.

Billy took a breath and then another one before slinking out of the room. White stared after him and with one final adjustment to his display followed him outside to the front stoop. 

…

“Heya fella, you... alright?” White asked, tugging the front door shut behind him. He was already freezing, even in the comfy and well made sweater. He hated the outdoors.

Billy was standing facing the busy street in front of them, not moving, not even seeming to notice the chilly temperature. It wasn't snowing... yet but one look at the sky told White it would be soon. At least it wasn't the desert, he mused.

White stepped forward to stand next to the shorter man, frowning at his look of pure concentration. “Uh... pally?”

“I don't get this, you know? I don't get how we got here.”

“Well... I guess it's thanks to Rust-”

“Not that!” The surgeon glared up at his friend. “I mean, The Action Man dating my mom and just... my mom being so cool with us and so... weirdly happy? When did that happen?”

White crossed his arms over his chest, the chill of the wind already too much to bear. “What do ya mean? Wasn't your mom always like this?”

“I guess. I mean... kinda. With my dad not around... she seemed so swept up with her career and being busy and... “ Billy took a deep breath and shrugged, glancing up at the man again. “She's always been the greatest mom to me, I mean, she did try her best. She was just... busy a lot. She was a single mom so... “

“Why are ya so down? It's christmas, pally!” The albino smiled and bumped against the man.

“And that! That right there! Why are you so happy right now?! You hate christmas!”

White scoffed and rolled his eyes towards the gray sky above. “I don't hate christmas! It's... not my favorite but-”

“Exactly!” Billy interrupted him, finger pointing up towards his face as though he'd caught the man in some sort of trap. “So why now? Why are you so happy and decorating and wearing my mother's sweaters and... and... ?”

“... being happy?” White supplied.

“Yeah?!”

“I just... I dunno. Moving to New York has been a big change for us, for me. I just... I feel like everything's going so well now and there's not really any reason not to be happy.”

The redhead blinked up at him in realization as he continued. They had been through a lot in the last year.

White shrugged. “Plus, you know, you love it and I want you to be happy so... I just... I was tryin' to make it a special christmas this year. We got this house to live in, like a real proper place to live with a huge christmas tree and-”

“Wait. You... you wanted to decorate and stuff for me?”

The two looked at each other for a moment, the younger man beginning to smile just a little, White really unsure of just what to say.

“That's really sweet.” Billy murmured and looked back out towards the street. He shivered a little bit, only seeming to realize now that it was quite cold.

White stared at the way the sleeves of the red and white sweater hung way below the tips of his fingers in the most adorable way. He smiled. “Do ya like the sweaters?”

Glancing down at the one he was wearing and then to the identical one White had on, Billy matched his grin with one of his own. “I just realized they're matching!”

“Yeah! I... thought it was cool.” He shrugged, self-consciously. “Your mom's a good... knitter? Is that the word?”

“Yeah. They are cool. Maybe we can get some other matching outfits too?”

“Yeah... no, I don't think so.”

“What about matching speedsuits?”

White guffawed. “Then we'd just look like Rust!”

The two laughed heartily at the image before dying down and just staring warmly at one another.

“Can we go inside now? This is the absolute worst!” The albino complained.

Billy scoffed.

“No, not this!” White tried to clarify. “Just... the whole, being outside thing, ya know? It's freezing!”

“It is not that cold.”

“Uh... it is! It's like... what, sixty out here?”

“Yeah, because sixty degrees is so cold.”

“It is when you used to live in the desert!”

Billy rolled his eyes affectionately and turned to head back inside before stopping just short.

“Oh come on!” White exclaimed.

Spinning on his heel, he faced the man and smiled up at him. “Listen, I really appreciate you wanted to make this christmas special and I hope that I can make it special for you in some way.”

“I don't really need anything else. I've already got everything I've ever wanted.” The man shrugged.

“Come on, everything?”

“Well yeah, a family, an actual home... you.”

Billy swallowed nervously and feeling just a tad bit brave for once, quickly jumped up on his tip toes, grabbed the bulky sweater White was wearing and yanked him down closer so he could kiss him soundly on the lips. He kissed back almost right away, once his surprise was over and they stayed like that for a moment on the stoop.

When Billy pulled back, he beamed up at the man. “Merry Christmas, White.”

“Uh... it's not christmas though.”

“Do you have to ruin everything?”


End file.
